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Boystown #0.5-0.75
The Boystown Prequels: Two Nick Nowak Novellas
Lambda award-winning Boystown Mystery series follows the cases of former police officer turned private investigator Nick Nowak. Set in Chicago during the early 1980s, Nowak is haunted by his abrupt departure from the CPD and the end of his relationship with librarian Daniel Laverty. The Boystown Prequels Little Boy Dead Former Chicago police officer turned private investigator, Nick Nowak is haunted by a traumatic break-up and his abrupt departure from the department after being gay-bashed. It's fall 1979 and Nick has just received his P.I. license but has no clients. Short on funds, he takes a temporary job as a driver for Film Fest Chicago. In a very short time, Nick deals with stalking fans, a crowd of protesters, and a critic’s stolen wallet that leads to murder. Little Boy Afraid It’s winter 1980, private investigator Nick Nowak gets one of his first jobs working for an openly-gay senate candidate. Allan Grimley has been receiving death threats, a lot of them, and it’s Nick’s job to keep him alive until the election. As he protects Grimley from increasing dangers, his friendship with bartender Ross deepens. Both stories have been sold previously.
164 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 20, 2017
About the author
Marshall Thornton
58 books642 followersThree-time Lambda Award-winning author, Marshall Thornton is best known for the Boystown and Pinx Video mystery series. Other novels include the erotic comedy The Perils of Praline, or the Amorous Adventures of a Southern Gentleman in Hollywood, Desert Run and Full Release. Marshall has an MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, where he received the Carl David Memorial Fellowship and was recognized in the Samuel Goldwyn Writing awards.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 31, 2021
Little boy Dead - 4.25 stars
Little boy Afraid - 3.85 stars
Nick never disappoints. I ended up loving these two shorts.
I was hoping one of them was going to be pre Daniel. Or Nick in a relation with Daniel. Too bad we will never get that. Atleast we get to see how Nick and Ross met. Best friends meet like that. Good shit there.
I miss this series. I wish we had more books.
My last book of 2021. It was a good one, to end the year with Nick and Ross.
Little boy Afraid - 3.85 stars
Nick never disappoints. I ended up loving these two shorts.
I was hoping one of them was going to be pre Daniel. Or Nick in a relation with Daniel. Too bad we will never get that. Atleast we get to see how Nick and Ross met. Best friends meet like that. Good shit there.
I miss this series. I wish we had more books.
My last book of 2021. It was a good one, to end the year with Nick and Ross.
April 14, 2022
Real Rating: 3.75* of five, rounded up because Nick's Over It & that appeals more than other stuff chafes
An exercise in nostalgia. I was totally sucked in by the idea of something set at the end of the Carter era, the last gasp of good government in the USA before the vile plutocrats distracted the stupid with a religious revival meeting and the leftists with pointless internecine-fighting nonsense.
Nick Nowak doesn't care about that, he cares about rent and gas for his Duster:
...and a man in his bed who will go away in (ideally before) the morning. He's coping with the serious problem of post-Outing shunning, a Polish Catholic family of cops whose lives he's ruined by daring not to conform, a new career as a private investigator that means he intersects with them and their like-minded bigots a lot, and an empty place in his life where his boyfriend (who buggered right off rather than deal with him anymore) once was.
These novellas are quite sexually explicit, and deeply unsafe for straight readers. Younger readers (than I am, say under 50) won't necessarily feel comfortable with Vaseline and barebacking. The stories they're telling are to my taste...Nick will gladly ignore your power stance, or use it to aim a solid kick to your boys if you try to cow him...so it was a few hours pleasantly spent.
An exercise in nostalgia. I was totally sucked in by the idea of something set at the end of the Carter era, the last gasp of good government in the USA before the vile plutocrats distracted the stupid with a religious revival meeting and the leftists with pointless internecine-fighting nonsense.
Nick Nowak doesn't care about that, he cares about rent and gas for his Duster:
...and a man in his bed who will go away in (ideally before) the morning. He's coping with the serious problem of post-Outing shunning, a Polish Catholic family of cops whose lives he's ruined by daring not to conform, a new career as a private investigator that means he intersects with them and their like-minded bigots a lot, and an empty place in his life where his boyfriend (who buggered right off rather than deal with him anymore) once was.
These novellas are quite sexually explicit, and deeply unsafe for straight readers. Younger readers (than I am, say under 50) won't necessarily feel comfortable with Vaseline and barebacking. The stories they're telling are to my taste...Nick will gladly ignore your power stance, or use it to aim a solid kick to your boys if you try to cow him...so it was a few hours pleasantly spent.
June 21, 2025
Not me tagging a book set in 1980 as historical. Boooooooooooooo.
This is really good of the gritty, hard-boiled, burned-in-love-and-life variety, but reading it is unavoidably enmeshed with the foreboding and horror that accompanies any book with gay MCs set in the 80s. I don't want any of what's coming for them 😭
This is really good of the gritty, hard-boiled, burned-in-love-and-life variety, but reading it is unavoidably enmeshed with the foreboding and horror that accompanies any book with gay MCs set in the 80s. I don't want any of what's coming for them 😭
April 23, 2019
I just finished reading books 1-3 of Pinx Video Mystery and loved it so much that I figured I'd jump right into another one of Marshall Thornton's series. So far, it wasn't as good of a start.
I can't say that I liked the theme for either story, celebrities and politics. And Nick Nowak is right, he is an asshole... though I'm not entirely sure if it's the likeable kind. While I did like this, if it wasn't for having loved Pinx so much, I don't think these prequel stories would have convinced me to continue with the series, but I'm going to give it a go anyway.
I can't say that I liked the theme for either story, celebrities and politics. And Nick Nowak is right, he is an asshole... though I'm not entirely sure if it's the likeable kind. While I did like this, if it wasn't for having loved Pinx so much, I don't think these prequel stories would have convinced me to continue with the series, but I'm going to give it a go anyway.
April 18, 2025
2 More great novellas from Thornton. The first of the two was probably stronger as a mystery, but both were good, and the second had the benefit of filling in a reference in one of Thornton's later books.
Like the first collection, the sex scenes feel scheduled and not really integrated with the plot, but that's cool with me, cuz it means I can skip them with no worries. I suspect they were inserted to meet some kind of editorial requirement.
This was the only other one in the series I already owned, but I was delighted to see there's another 3 months for .99 KU deal this morning, so I'll be reading a bunch more of these over the next few months.
Like the first collection, the sex scenes feel scheduled and not really integrated with the plot, but that's cool with me, cuz it means I can skip them with no worries. I suspect they were inserted to meet some kind of editorial requirement.
This was the only other one in the series I already owned, but I was delighted to see there's another 3 months for .99 KU deal this morning, so I'll be reading a bunch more of these over the next few months.
March 18, 2026
This prequel collection features "Little Boy Dead," where Nick works as transportation for a film festival, and "Little Boy Afraid," where he serves as security for a politician. The former was more climactic to me, while the latter petered out a bit at the end but was still enjoyable. These novellas together provide us with an origin story for Nick's friend, Ross, which I liked a lot! You can tell this series is written by an actual gay man, as the intimate scenes are more of the emotionless hookup variety as compared to the overdramatic mush common to gay romance novels today; this authenticity adds to the gritty nature, time period, and realism of these mysteries.
December 25, 2021
Not worth it
Most impressive part is that this is somehow part of a bestseller series; the tone is flat, action had very little impact, I cared so little about the characters that it took me halfway through the second story to realize that the author kept changing the spelling and it wasn’t me just not paying attention. The editor half-assed it (author could have reread their own work just once and caught the typos, too). So many boring details—like the exact streets MC walks/drives to get anywhere—could have been taken out and replaced with details/info that could make the characters more interesting or even mildly sympathetic, or imagery so so the story doesn’t sound like 12 year old’s first book report.
There’s a coherent story, and aside from MC being bad at his job there aren’t glaring plot holes. Characterization is weak, and MC is inconsistent with being suddenly competent and then incompetent; every man seems to be gay and into him (and begging to sleep with him) but that seems pretty usual for the genre. Two stars because it wasn’t awful, but it was boring enough to leave me frustrated.
Most impressive part is that this is somehow part of a bestseller series; the tone is flat, action had very little impact, I cared so little about the characters that it took me halfway through the second story to realize that the author kept changing the spelling and it wasn’t me just not paying attention. The editor half-assed it (author could have reread their own work just once and caught the typos, too). So many boring details—like the exact streets MC walks/drives to get anywhere—could have been taken out and replaced with details/info that could make the characters more interesting or even mildly sympathetic, or imagery so so the story doesn’t sound like 12 year old’s first book report.
There’s a coherent story, and aside from MC being bad at his job there aren’t glaring plot holes. Characterization is weak, and MC is inconsistent with being suddenly competent and then incompetent; every man seems to be gay and into him (and begging to sleep with him) but that seems pretty usual for the genre. Two stars because it wasn’t awful, but it was boring enough to leave me frustrated.
May 4, 2022
not really worth the time spent
June 24, 2023
Prequels of a favorite series
I’m already on book 10 of the Boystown series when I saw this but it’s my favorite series so why not? This book features the same Nick humor that I have come to love and enjoy and it also provides some history on the Nick/Vincent and Nick/Ross “relationships”. I have to say the first story is not as good but this is an amazing series so be sure to check out the rest of the books.
I’m already on book 10 of the Boystown series when I saw this but it’s my favorite series so why not? This book features the same Nick humor that I have come to love and enjoy and it also provides some history on the Nick/Vincent and Nick/Ross “relationships”. I have to say the first story is not as good but this is an amazing series so be sure to check out the rest of the books.
June 24, 2022
There is a lot of good in these stories. The setting is very well realized and the sexual landscape depicted feels true to a gay world post stonewall but pre-AIDS. On the downside, the mysteries are a little dull and the writing feels strangely flat. While there is incident the pacing is such that any excitement is leached out.
September 13, 2020
Haha
The last couple of lines made me laugh. In fact, Nick Nowak’s dry humor made me chuckle throughout the book. I like that. I tend to think of humor at the most inappropriate times.
The last couple of lines made me laugh. In fact, Nick Nowak’s dry humor made me chuckle throughout the book. I like that. I tend to think of humor at the most inappropriate times.
January 6, 2021
I has a hard time with this book. There were parts I liked and parts I did not like. I had a hard time liking Nick. He is a bit of an a.. hole. I really enjoyed Pinx Video Mysteries so I was hoping for a lot. I am going to keep going for now on this series and see if it grows on me.
December 17, 2021
Gay cop turns PI but takes job where he can which leads to being on hand to solve crimes. Official law don't do gay so reminiscent of a past age at times. For me the denouement came too quickly and conveniently, but it was entertaining in the main.
March 23, 2026
Gritty and realistic. But I love that with the Nick Nowak stories. No fluffy unrealistic romance. Hookups are hookups. The focus here is the mysteries. But I did have to laugh with the descriptions of the 80s outfits…cause I remember those days!
July 9, 2026
In "Little Boy Dead" (Fall 1979) we get Nick Nowak’s first case as a private eye. He takes a job as security/driver for a Chicago film festival. Threats, stalking, theft, blackmail, and murder. The case isn’t overly complex, and there are a few too many characters to keep track of, but it serves to let us get to know Nick just starting out.
The period feel is well-researched, including the casual and soulless explicit sex scenes. This is not the romantic, committed character we see in his later years—this is a character engaging in egregiously unsafe behaviors that will turn deadly for the gay community in just a couple of years. The sex at first seems gratuitous and jarring in terms of the story, but as part of Thornton’s acurate portrayal of the gay milieu and Nick’s place in that mileu, perhaps it’s not so gratuitous. Besides, I am not the intended primary audience. Thornton has written on his blog that he is not writing M/M romance (often written by and for heterosexual women), but gay fiction. The genre expectations of his intended primary audience are simply different from what I'm used to. The closest analog in the heterosexual world might be harem fiction—in this case wish-fulfillment porn (for a gay reader) fused into hard-boiled detective fiction. The detective fiction is so good that I'm fine skimming through the the sex scenes that are not my cup of tea.
In the second case, "Little Boy Afraid" (February 1980). Nick takes on bodyguard duties for a gay Senatorial candidate who has received a lot of threatening letters. Once again, the mystery is secondary to character exploration and delineating what it meant to be gay in that place and time. We get to see just how toxic his relationship with his family and the CPD is.
The period feel is well-researched, including the casual and soulless explicit sex scenes. This is not the romantic, committed character we see in his later years—this is a character engaging in egregiously unsafe behaviors that will turn deadly for the gay community in just a couple of years. The sex at first seems gratuitous and jarring in terms of the story, but as part of Thornton’s acurate portrayal of the gay milieu and Nick’s place in that mileu, perhaps it’s not so gratuitous. Besides, I am not the intended primary audience. Thornton has written on his blog that he is not writing M/M romance (often written by and for heterosexual women), but gay fiction. The genre expectations of his intended primary audience are simply different from what I'm used to. The closest analog in the heterosexual world might be harem fiction—in this case wish-fulfillment porn (for a gay reader) fused into hard-boiled detective fiction. The detective fiction is so good that I'm fine skimming through the the sex scenes that are not my cup of tea.
In the second case, "Little Boy Afraid" (February 1980). Nick takes on bodyguard duties for a gay Senatorial candidate who has received a lot of threatening letters. Once again, the mystery is secondary to character exploration and delineating what it meant to be gay in that place and time. We get to see just how toxic his relationship with his family and the CPD is.
May 15, 2023
The prequels are even better than book 1 and 2. I enjoyed Little Boy Afraid, which is about Nick being a bodyguard of an openly gay candidate.
May 22, 2024
Second time reading both these short prequel stories. A nice mix of mystery, action, and MM sex. The second story especially illustrates 1980s US homophobia. Lots of colorful characters round them out.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews